Physical and biological controls of primary production in the ice-covered Canadian Arctic marine system

极地海洋生态系统将经历与气候变暖相关的变化。特别是，北极冰盖海洋环境正在经历前所未有的变化，最近海冰面积加速下降，水团特征和分布发生变化。了解冰盖初级生产的时间和控制对于更好地预测生态系统将如何应对快速变化的环境至关重要。因此，我的研究计划的长期目标是全面了解冰盖生态系统中控制北极海洋初级生产的过程。在接下来的5年里，我建议进行实地流程和实验研究，以帮助实现我的NSERC发现拨款目标，这些目标可以概括为：(1)开发新的非侵入性测量技术，以更好地观察冰盖生态系统中藻类吸收、生物量、产量和生理的时间进程和空间变异性，以及(2)研究控制海冰、融化水和底层水柱中藻类生产、积累和损失的物理和生物过程。在加拿大北极群岛中部发现的陆地海冰提供了完美的天然实验室，进行满足这些概述目标所需的过程研究。特别是，在融化季节很长一段时间里，陆地冰仍然留在Resolte Passage附近，为研究从冬春过渡到冰破裂的过程提供了一个平台。通过我提出的研究计划，我和我的团队(包括5个学士学位，2个硕士学位)这将增加我们对冰盖生态系统初级生产的物理和生物控制方面的知识，开发新的观测技术，激发新的想法，填补知识空白，并提高我们对生态系统建模的能力。冰盖的减少，对航运交通的预期，以及增加对我们北方了解的政治压力，都突显了上述工作的重要性。

Polar marine ecosystems will undergo change associated with a warming climate. In particular, the Arctic ice-covered marine environment is undergoing unprecedented changes with recent accelerated declines in sea ice cover and changes to water mass characteristics and distribution. Understanding the timing and controls of ice-covered primary production is of critical importance to better predict how the ecosystem will respond to the rapidly changing environment. Therefore, the long-term goal of my research program is to obtain a comprehensive understanding of processes controlling Arctic marine primary production in the ice-covered ecosystem. Over the next 5 years, I propose to undertake field-based process and experimental studies to help meet my NSERC Discovery grant objectives which can be summarized as: (1) to develop new non-invasive measurement techniques to better observe the temporal progression and spatial variability of algal absorption, biomass, production, and physiology in the ice-covered ecosystem, and (2) to investigate physical and biological processes that control algal production, accumulation and loss in sea ice, melt water, and underlying water column. Landfast sea ice found in the central Canadian Arctic Archipelago provides the perfect natural laboratory to undertake process studies required to meet these summarized objectives. In particular, landfast ice remains in the vicinity of Resolute Passage long into the melt season providing a platform to study processes from the winter-spring transition through to ice break-up. Through my proposed research program, my team and I (including 5 B.Sc., 2 M.Sc. and 3 Ph.D. students over the grant's tenure) will increase our knowledge on physical and biological controls of primary production in the ice-covered ecosystem, develop new observational techniques, fuel novel ideas, fill knowledge gaps, and improve our capability to model the ecosystem. A declining ice cover, expectation of increased shipping traffic, and political pressure for an increased understanding of our North highlight the importance of the work described above.